Hey people! Laski here, just getting back from meh long weekend, ready to update again! Kudos to all of those who reviewed, made my weekend a lot better! xD So, here's the next installment for Steel and Ice, btw Me and God Complex: there will be more scenes on that later on so, don't worry! Lastly, I don't own FMA...just Amber and most of the plot...
Chapter Nine
Secrets and Hidden Smiles
Amber
When I woke up the next morning, I found myself on the bed...not exactly where I remember falling asleep at. I looked around for any signs of Al so I could thank him for moving me but there were none. I turned to my side and saw Edward, sleeping soundly and snoring lightly. I noticed a few stray bangs covering his eyes and they seemed to be bothering him. 'Damn motherly instincts,' I thought as I gently reached over and moved the strands of golden hair and tucked them behind his ear. The door to the room opened quietly as Al stepped inside.
"How was it?" I whispered, getting off the bed, taking one more look at the sleeping Edward. He didn't look that evil when he was asleep...
"Everything is good to go," Al began. "The military is throwing bait but the people here aren't fighting back..."
"Lost cause..." I said with a smile. "I'll talk to Roy once we get to Rohdas and tell him to put in a word with the Fuhrer."
"When I came in to check on you last night...you were sleeping by the window..." Al started. "I was going to move you but the maid asked for my help on something...when I came back, you were already in bed...did you wake up?"
"No..." I said while glancing at Edward. He moved me? He carried me to bed? He did it? Why in the world would he? "I'm going to safely assume your brother did..."
"Oh," Al said while moving over to his brother. "Should I wake him? It's almost ten..."
"Far be it to let me stop you..." I said while going into the bathroom to change.
"EYAH!" Ed yelled from the room. "You're freaking cold Al!" A brief pause followed after this, as if he were looking for something. "Where's Amber?" he asked as I finished changing.
"Right here," I said while exiting the bathroom. "All yours Ed," I said while proceeding to pack my bag. He walked past me and stepped inside the bathroom to get ready for our departure. I proceeded to make my way downstairs to check us out and to get us a quick breakfast so we'd get to Rohdas faster.
"Amber!" yelled out a voice from behind me. I quickly discarded Al since it didn't sound hollow, so it must've been Edward. I turned to face him and he was just pulling on his read coat. "Don't go getting ideas about what I did last night..."
"I wasn't," I replied coldly. "Why? Do you want me to get ideas from it?" I replied, raising a brow.
"No!" he nearly yelled. "Just telling you."
"Whatever," I said while tossing him an apple. "I already cleaned it...come on...we need to get a move on..."
"How long until we reach Rohdas?" asked Al.
"Few hours," I said as we walked out of Aleli's limits. "Can't tell you how many exactly, I've never heard of the place..."
"Oh," Al said with what seemed to be a sigh. "But you do know where it is, right?"
"Yes," I replied while turning to the suit of armor. "I checked a recent map before heading off in Resembool."
"You sure you can remember something like that?" asked Edward.
"Yes," I replied without even bothering to look his way. "I'm sure..." I said while leading the way. The journey then became silent as only our footsteps echoed in the dirt path. I mostly had my eyes on the ground, trying to think of what to do when a distant memory came back to haunt me.
"They can't do that to daddy!" cried Elicia. "He still has more work to do and he can't do it when he wakes up!" I turned away from the sight and looked around at the rest of the military personnel. I had skipped out on the uniform this time but I still had my military watch in clear sight even though I was standing with Gracia, Elicia, and the rest of the family.
"He's not coming back honey..." Gracia said as she leaned down and hugged her daughter tightly. She then turned to me and quickly embraced me, knowing that Hughes considered me a part of the family much like she did. I watched as they kept on piling dirt on Hughes' coffin when I felt a slight tug at my black skirt. I looked to my side and saw nothing. My focus returned to the burial when I felt a tug at my skirt yet again, this time, I looked down and saw Elicia with sad eyes.
"He's gone Amber..." she said softly.
"Yes, he is," I said while bending down to her height. She then played with my hair, which I had let down for the occasion since Hughes liked it.
"Can you promise something big sis?" she said while looking at me in the eyes.
"Tell me what it is..." I said, wondering where this was getting at.
"Don't leave like daddy did..." she said while hugging me. I looked back at Hughes buried coffin and bit my lip, hard. How can you promise a three year old that you won't die? I felt her weak hold on me grow as she sobbed quietly, waiting for my answer.
"I promise to try my hardest..." I said with tears stinging my eyes. "I'll try..." I said, my voice cracking...
"Amber watch out!" called out a voice, snapping me out of my thoughts. I felt someone pull me towards them, their arms holding me tightly. "You all right?" I heard Ed's voice ask in my ear. "It's not like you to be so quiet and miss a cliff..."
"I'm fine!" I yelled, leaving his arms. "What do you know about how I am? Answer that!"
"From the week or two we've been partners, we've yelled at each other enough for me to know that you don't like to keep quiet!" Ed yelled back.
"You know what?" I said with a huff. "Forget it!" I said while throwing my arms in the air. "Thank you for helping me," I said while looking at the ground. "I owe you..."
"Now that you mention it..." he started, I quickly snapped my fingers and a leaf shut him up for me.
"Don't think about it...I'll only pay you back when you least expect it..." I said while starting to walk towards Rohdas again. I undid the alchemy on the leaf and let him talk, wondering what he was going to yell now.
"I don't even know why I saved you!"
"That's what partners do!" yelled Al. "Now stop fighting!"
"Fine," I murmured as I kept on moving.
"What were you thinking about anyway?" Ed asked as he started to walk by me.
"Something personal," I said quickly. "Refrain from questions Ed...I am not going to talk about it..."
"Whatever," he replied. The remainder of the journey was quiet and we reached Rohdas a little before sundown. We went to the closest in(n) to check in when we found out that our rooms were already booked. Then I remembered that Havoc is supposed to be here because he had to talk to me about what we're supposed to do in Rohdas. I'm guessing he's in my room waiting for me. "Do you think Mustang called in advance?" Ed asked me as we made our way to our rooms.
"Maybe, I don't remember," I lied as I went to the room the clerk had told me to. Inside, just as I suspected was Havoc, out of uniform.
"Hey Amber," he said while coming to greet me.
"Hey H," I said with a small smile and hugging him quickly. "What's the damage?"
"Well," he started, pulling out a bag from underneath the bed. "You're supposed to go undercover at this new bar they built here where supposedly shady dudes from the area are meeting. Roy's arranged everything and you'll be going under the name Charlotte."
"'Kay," I said. "What's in the bag? What about Edward?"
"What you'll be wearing for your job during the next few weeks. The chief bought most of these and Lt. Hawkeye picked out a few things too. Now, about the kid...I'm going to talk to him but I won't mention a thing about what you'll be doing," Havoc answered.
"What ishe going to do?" I asked, walking over to the bag and opening it.
"He'll come by in a few days undercover as well..." Havoc said as I started to pull out clothes. Most of the shirts had a pretty average cleavage exposure so I wouldn't mind wearing them. I placed them carefully in the bed and once I was done with the tops, I pulled out what looks to be...oh God no...he didn't...
"Micro mini's..." I muttered. "No way am I wearing these..."
"I figured as much. Now, when Roy talked to the bar's owner, he asked for the dress code for the waitresses and bartenders and the owner replied quote: "A little skin is fine but nothing that makes them look trashy..."
"Sounds like a decent man..."
"You can't be too sure..." Havoc warned. I smiled slightly as his concern and moved over to my bag. "Go change. I can't leave yet..."
"You don't want to leave," I corrected as I pulled out some jeans from my bag and took a deep blue shirt to change into. I walked to the bathroom and closed the door. I pulled off my skirt and tank that I'd put on in the morning and took a quick shower. I changed into the clothes I'd brought with me and looked at myself in the mirror. "Riza picked out the shirts, right?" I said as I checked how it fit. It looked pretty good...
"Yeah, the chief almost went overboard with the micro's..." Havoc said from the door. It was obvious...Roy couldn't pick a good shirt for me if he tried...I know this from experience. I unlocked the door and let Havoc in so he could see how I looked. "Very nice," he said with a smile.
"Thanks," I said with a small blush. "What do you think of the hair?"
"Try something new..." Havoc suggested. "Here," he said while giving me another bag. "Riza thought you might need some of this stuff," he added as I opened the bag. Inside, it was half full of the necessary hair products for what I wanted to do and I smiled again. I quickly pulled out some gel and messed up my hair a little, making it slightly wavy. "Nice..." he said with a smirk. "By the way..." he said while puling something out of his pocket. "I got you something..."
"You didn't have to..." I started, looking at the small box.
"Yeah," Havoc said while opening the box. "But I felt bad that after Roy and Riza got you something that I'd come empty handed," he said while pulling out what was inside. It was a pair of silver hoop earrings that matched perfectly with anything. "These would look nice in the lower hole," he said as I pulled out the lower earring, yes, I have two piercing in each ear. One pair of studs in the upper hole and small dangles from the other. I replaced the dangles with the ones Havoc had given me and put them on with care.
"Thanks," I said with a smile, admiring how they looked. "They're beautiful..."
"You're welcome," Havoc said with a smile. "You look great...just a little black eyeliner should do the trick..."
"Think so?" I asked as I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't look half bad...it was different...
"I know you rarely wear makeup but..." he said letting his voice trail off as I put on my black eyeliner. He did have a point though...
"Done..." I said as I finished. I looked over to Havoc and he smiled.
"If it wasn't because I'd knew you..." Havoc started. "I'd be asking for your number..."
"Oh shut up..." I said while trying to downplay my blush. "You do know that's illegal right?"
"I was just getting my point across Amber," Havoc answered.
"Okay..." I said with a sigh.
"Now, let me walk you over to the place to drop you off. I'll talk to Fullmetal later," Havoc said while I put on my boots and picked up my bag, leaving my id's and everything military-ish behind before walking out the door ahead of Havoc.
Al
Brother and I were walking back to his room when I accidentally bumped into someone.
"I'm so sorry," I apologized, looking at her closely. She seemed familiar to me.
"It's all right kid," she said while smiling at me. "I'm fine and it was just an accident. Don't worry so much about it. Okay?" she said with a smile. "I'll see you around," she said while running off. "Yo! H! Wait for me!" she cried as she caught up to someone even more familiar.
"Al!" called out brother's voice. I turned to him and saw his angry face. I quickly ran inside his room, wondering about what I'd done.
"What is it brother?" I asked as he closed the door.
"Did you see that man at the hallway?" he said.
"Yeah, he looks a lot like Havoc."
"That's because it is! What's he doing here?"
"Fullmetal, open the door, it's Havoc and I need to talk to you..." Havoc said while knocking at the door. I opened it and let him in and he sat on a nearby chair.
"Hi Lt.!" I said happily.
"Hey kid," Havoc said with a smile. "Look, Mustang wants you to go undercover at the local bar in a few days..."
"What about Amber?" brother asked.
"She's sound asleep," Havoc quickly replied. "I'll wake her up after I talk to you," he added as he started to explain what brother was going to do and what he needed to act like...funny...something's missing in all of this...as if there's something Havoc's not telling us...
There you have it! Chapter Nine of Steel and Ice,
Laters!
Laski